Things Are Heating Up for Chicago Fire's Eamonn Walker

Tuesday

Jan 29, 2013 at 12:01 AMJan 29, 2013 at 4:25 AM

TV Guide

###less###p(((great)))###less###a href="http://www.tvguide.com/News/Chicago-Fire-Eamonn-Walker-1060017.aspx?rss=breakingnews&partnerid=gatehouse&profileid=breaking"(((great)))###less###/a(((great)))###less###p(((great)))"I love playing a fireman!" says ###less###a href="http://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/eamonn-walker/148281?rss=breakingnews&partnerid=gatehouse&profileid=breaking"(((great)))Eamonn Walker###less###/a(((great))), who costars as Wallace Boden, the stoic fire battalion chief on Dick Wolf's ###less###em(((great)))###less###a href="http://www.tvguide.com/tvshows/chicago-fire/375373?rss=breakingnews&partnerid=gatehouse&profileid=breaking"(((great)))Chicago Fire###less###/a(((great)))###less###/em(((great))). The British actor, best known for his role as spiritual inmate Kareem Said on HBO's ###less###em(((great)))Oz###less###/em(((great))), is especially thrilled now that Boden is out from behind his desk and going on calls. "How can you play a firefighter and not fight fires?" he asks with a laugh.###less###/p(((great)))###less###p(((great)))The chief is also finally getting some juicy storylines of his own, particularly his attempt to save a young firebug, which culminates in Wednesday's episode (10/9c, NBC). The plot further cements the chief's nurturing role among his troops. "The story [gives] insight into the chief's empathetic relationship with his 'children' in the firehouse," explains Walker, 50.###less###/p(((great)))###less###p(((great)))Next Wednesday, Boden has little time to dwell on that outcome when EMT Gabriela (###less###a href="http://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/monica-raymund/295886?rss=breakingnews&partnerid=gatehouse&profileid=breaking"(((great)))Monica Raymund###less###/a(((great)))) needs his guidance after being pulled away from her job by her cop brother Antonio (###less###em(((great)))Treme###less###/em(((great)))'s ###less###a href="http://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/jon-seda/158559?rss=breakingnews&partnerid=gatehouse&profileid=breaking"(((great)))Jon Seda###less###/a(((great)))). Their investigation into an epidemic of lethal heroin on the streets of the Windy City "opens up a whole other layer of Chicago," teases Walker.###less###/p(((great)))###less###p(((great)))Also keeping the chief busy is the rivalry between the injured Kelly Severide (###less###a href="http://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/taylor-kinney/282537?rss=breakingnews&partnerid=gatehouse&profileid=breaking"(((great)))Taylor Kinney###less###/a(((great)))) and Eric Whaley (###less###a href="http://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/shane-mcrae/198604?rss=breakingnews&partnerid=gatehouse&profileid=breaking"(((great)))Shane McRae###less###/a(((great)))), the firefighter subbing for him. It seems Severide is ###less###em(((great)))very###less###/em(((great))) unhappy about a piece of their shared history. "Severide is a hothead, and that heat makes him as good as he is [at his job]," Walker says. "The chief's job is to keep him from burning himself out."###less###/p(((great)))###less###p(((great)))That's something not likely to happen to Walker. "I haven't felt this much excitement and love on a show since ###less###em(((great)))Oz###less###/em(((great))), which changed my life," says the actor, whose other credits include ###less###em(((great)))ER ###less###/em(((great)))and###less###em(((great))) Masterpiece Theatre's Othello. "###less###/em(((great)))This is a dream come true."###less###/p(((great)))###less###p(((great)))Check out this exclusive clip from this week's episode of ###less###em(((great)))Chicago Fire###less###/em(((great))):###less###/p(((great)))###less###iframe id="NBC Video Widget" width="560" height="315" src="http://www.nbc.com/assets/video/widget/widget.html?vid=n32019" frameborder="0"(((great)))###less###/iframe(((great)))###less###p(((great)))###less###a href="https://w1.buysub.com/loc/TVM/articleURL"(((great)))Subscribe to TV Guide Magazine now! ###less###/a(((great)))###less###/p(((great)))###less###/br(((great)))

###less###/br(((great)))###less###p(((great)))View original ###less###a href='http://www.tvguide.com/News/Chicago-Fire-Eamonn-Walker-1060017.aspx?rss=breakingnews&partnerid=gatehouse&profileid=breaking'(((great)))Things Are Heating Up for ###less###i(((great)))Chicago Fire###less###/i(((great)))'s Eamonn Walker###less###/a(((great))) at ###less###a href='http://www.tvguide.com'(((great)))TVGuide.com###less###/a(((great)))###less###/p(((great)))###less###/br(((great)))